A ‘memo’ in The Echo of November 12 told me ‘if you want to save a beach, build a groyne’. Consider this: Stand somewhere with ocean water in front of you and a sandy landscape behind. That is a beach.
Allowing that interface to wander in and out as it wishes, over time, keeps that beach forever.
A proper beach includes the sand dune behind it. The dune stores sand in times of accretion and resupplies the beach in times of erosion. It also likes to wander, with the beach. There are lots of old dune formations that got stranded inland from Belongil. They date from geological times of higher sea levels. You can see their shapes east and west of the A&I Estate on map apps and other satellite views. Their crests run parallel to the coast.
A beach is a process, not a line on a real estate map. There are good examples everywhere, such as the Tyagarah coast – guess what, no real estate. Groynes (and any hard structure) are only the answer if we have asked the wrong question.
Byron Shire Cr Duncan Dey, Main Arm
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
